Johannes KrauseAre Europeans Today Genetically Different from Their Ancestors?

Johannes Krause
Are Europeans Today Genetically Different from Their Ancestors?

Johannes Krause is Director at the Max Planck Institute for Human History in Jena (Germany), where he also acted as a Founding Member, and heads the Department of Archaeogenetics. He is also Honorary Professor for Archaeo- and Palaeogenetics at one of Germany’s oldest and most renowned universities for sciences, the Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen.
Krause’s research focuses on human evolution and ancient DNA. In this area, he has made major contributions to the knowledge about the spread of diseases and the evolution and continuation of certain genes. With this research, Krause has illuminated links between modern day humans and ancient related species, such as Neanderthals. He is currently an active member of the Center for Academic Research & Training in Anthropogeny and the German Archaeological Institute.

"The Max Planck Society is Germany's most successful research organization. Since its establishment in 1948, no fewer than 18 Nobel laureates have emerged from the ranks of its scientists, putting it on a par with the best and most prestigious research institutions worldwide. The more than 15,000 publications each year in internationally renowned scientific journals are proof of the outstanding research work conducted at Max Planck Institutes – and many of those articles are among the most-cited publications in the relevant field." (Source)

Institute

The Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History conducts basic research using modern analytical methods with the aim of a multidisciplinary and integrated science of human history. It seeks to bridge the gap between historical disciplines and the natural sciences. Scientists from a range of fields, such as biology, linguistics, archaeology, anthropology and history jointly work on innovative methods, in particular in the fields of cutting-edge genetic and proteomic sequencing, bioinformatics, archaeological science, computational modeling, language databases, and phylogeography. This thoroughly integrated, interdisciplinary approach will address long-standing questions about human history – including some previously deemed difficult, or even completely intractable – as well as novel questions inspired by the new horizons that cutting edge methods open up. (Source)

Map

Different ethnic groups have shaped the genetic makeup of today’s Europeans. Through migration from various regions of the world, the genetic material of humans who first arrived in Europe forty thousand years ago has seen drastic changes over the last ten thousand years. By analyzing D.N.A extracted from ancient bones, JOHANNES KRAUSE traces back the genetic ancestry of human beings, especially those living in Europe today. He explains in this video that, using recently developed D.N.A sequencing technologies, the research proves that genetic shifts happened about eight thousand as well as five thousand years ago. These findings correlate with the knowledge of archeologists that cultural changes, such as changes in subsistence strategies, occurred at the same time due to migration. The research presented shows that cultural changes and genetic changes sometimes went hand in hand.

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